Cat and Mouse Chase
by eddiescatel
Summary: Based off the Teen Titans Show; The Titans East receive distress signals coming from Asia, so they go check it out. During their mission, Speedy finds an old "friend", Cheshire.
1. The Mouse is Hunted

"All right team, I think we should split up," Bumblebee the new leader of Titans East said, "we'll cover more ground that way."

We (Bumblebee, Aqualad, Mas, Menos, and myself[otherwise known as Titans East]) received a distress signal from Asia stating that there have been a large number of disappearances in this part of Asia going from the Himalayas to the Pacific Coast, from as far north as Mongolia to as south as Laos.

"Aqualad, you'll stay here in east China since you'll be close to the sea."

"Sure thing" Aqualad replied.

"Speedy, you should travel down to the Vietnamese-Chinese border and patrol the forests." She ordered

"Will do." I replied

She turned to the twins and said "Mas, Menos, since you two can run faster than I can fly, you'll sprint to the base of the Himalayas, and keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

"Los montanas?" they said in unison. I find it odd how they can understand English perfectly but not be able to speak it. Kinda like in that show where superpowered animals can understand human speech but can only say there own names.

"Uh... Si," Bumblebee replied "I'll head north near Mongolia, if anybody has anything to report call the rest of us immediately. Don't try to be a hero. _**This means you Speedy**_I don't want a repeat of what happened in Italy."  
Aqualad and the twins snickered at the memory.

"Don't worry I learned my lesson, I'll call in if things start getting to hot." I replied. _Man, BB is becoming a real leader, she's starting to remind me of Robin_

"Ok then,if nothing happens within a month we'll come back here, understand?" We all nodded. "Ok then, Titans East, Go!" She cried as she took flight with her insect wings. Aqualad patted me on the shoulder and dived into the South Chinese Sea, as the twins gave me a high five and shouted their battle-cry "MAS Y MENOS SI PUEDEMOS!" and they pratically flew through the town and within thirty seconds they were out of my line of sight.

I can't fly, run at supersonic speed, and I can barely swim so I guess I'm walking towards my destination. Good thing the Vietnamese-Chinese border is only about 50 or so miles away from here.

Despite it's size, Xinhuan was a very popular place for tourists and markets. I dodged hordes of people running through the bazaar. Streetvendors tried to sell me clothes, shoes, toys, animals and practically everything there was to sell. One elderly woman carried two baskets full of knives, she came up to me and said something in Chinese. Although I can't understand any language other than English, I knew she was trying to sell me a knife. She was persistent too, she would not leave until I bought a knife from her. I finally gave in and bought a dagger. Although I prefer my bow and arrows, I decided having a close combat weapon wouldn't hurt.

I thanked the woman and continued my way down the main road. I saw kids playing some kind of ball game, people trading and selling their goods, and now and then a few tourists taking pictures of everything from the plants to the scenery, to the people. I did notice one girl that stood out. She did look of Asian descent, she had black hair, and brown eyes, but her skin tone was different than the rest of the locals. It was a little more paler. She took notice of me as well, she examined me for about two seconds and returned to dipping some needles into a pale green liquid.

I took the practice as trivial and continued my journey out of the town. After about twenty or thirty minutes, I made it out of the town and onto a dirt road that winds into the rain forest covered mountains. The sky was azure and beautiful as I traveled down the dirt road. I traveled relatively light, my mask, my bow and quiver, my newly acquired dagger and communicator attached to my belt, and a knapsack containing some water, food, medical supplies, emergency gear, and a comb.(I decided to grow my hair out a little so I actually have something to comb.)

The walk was relatively boring, but I'm used to the silence. When I used to fight with Green Arrow, we trained in silence. Don't get me wrong he was a great teacher and he treated me like his own son,, however our attacks relied on accuracy, speed, and stealth. Green Arrow told me even the slightest whisper or movement could give away our position and compromise our mission. I can't help thinking how Robin and Batman had their training, or Aquaman and Aqualad. Their fighting styles sometimes _DO_ involve stealth, yet they seem to have a closer relationship with each other. I started getting bored and remembered I had an ipod in my backpack in case things got boring. I considered this boring.

I passed only about five or so people, carrying vegetables and freshly picked fruit out to Xinhuan (probably to sell) and even then did i hardly make eye contact with anybody. Eventually I reached the edge of the forested mountains. The sky changed over the two and a half hour walk. The sky was covered by clouds, some were regular wisps, other seemed dark and ominous. _Great, just my luck it's going to rain._

**Meanwhile:**  
Aqualad was searching on the seafloor. _Hmmm...Nothing out of the ordinary here._ he thought to himself.

A school of fish suddenly rushed passed him followed by a few loner fish. Aqualad sensed the fish were in danger of something but couldn't sense any immediate danger. When a pod of dolphins also frantically swam past him. Aqualad tried to telepathically communicate with the dolphins.

_ HEY! What's wrong?_  
One dolphin stopped and swam back around making clicks and chattering sounds

_ Big storm coming, swim away quick now. Monsoon season it is._ It jabbered frantically still fearing for it's life and the life of his fellow dolphins.

_Where's the storm?_ Aqualad replied.  
More clicks and squeals came from the mammal. _Southeast, heading Northwest. It'll hit here as well as big islands and peninsula!_ The dolphin's pod called back for him and he quickly swam up to join the others.

_ Big islands and peninsula? Is he talking about Indonesia and Thailand? He said it'll hit here too, so it's as far east as China and as far west as Thailand. BB and the twins shouldn't be in danger but Speedy is. I have to warn him!_ Aqualad shot upwards onto the surface to use his communicator, however it for some reason couldn't contact Speedy or anybody else for that matter.

"Crap, I hope Speedy'll be ok..."

**Meanwhile back in the rainforest:**  
_ Haven't I already been here? That tree looks familiar_... The trees covered up the sky so I can't even tell where the sun is much less which direction i was going. On the bright side I found some safe berries and fruit so I don't have to eat all the food in my pack just yet. Other than the foreign animals I didn't see anything out of ordinary.

Eventually I lowered my guard, which was the precise moment I heard the twirl of knives heading in my direction. Instinctively I ducked and drew out my bow. The knives struck the tree behind me and were thrown with such force that they were halfway into the tree.

"Pretty good but you have to try harder if you want to kill me!" I taunted the unseen assassin.

I shot in the direction where the knives were thrown, not hitting a target.

I scanned the trees around me but I saw nothing, I heard a rustle in one of the nearby trees and shot at it, whatever was in it fell at the impact. Turns out it was just a stray cat, the cat shook off the blow and dashed out of the area. However the cat was a distraction, from the canopy a figure jumped down wearing a green kimono and a white cat like mask. She tried to shred my face with her claws attached to her wrists. I managed to dodge the fury swipes but she managed to tear the sleeve of my shirt. She barely managed to graze the skin but it for some reason it didn't just hurt it _**burned**_.

"Wait, I know you!" I said as she kept on trying to cut me open. She didn't say anything but continued with her attacks.

"Cheshire isn't it?" I stated once more in between her attacks. At which point she whipped her hair,at the moment her iron hair met my face, I saw those Asian hair needles women wear. _I've seen those before too!_

The force was enough to knock me back some feet away. She then ran towards me arms extended aiming for my neck. When I noticed something round and dark grey in the ground between me and her. Before I could warn her, she triggered the mine and a flash of light and fire erupted under her.

*******************  
The sound of thunder and the flashing of lightning brought me back to my senses. Any sunlight that was coming through the trees had vanished and instead lightning illuminated the forest floor. I had burns on my arms and legs but they were nothing compared to the girl's. She flew about 10 feet in my direction, and the force from the explosion cracked her mask but it remained intact, but her hair was singed at the edges. Her kimono was burned and singed, and she was practically covered in burns. I pressed my fingers onto the side of her neck, her heart was still beating, that's a good sign.

I got up and tried to call in, but my communicator was severly damaged in the explosion. _PERFECT_ It started to rain and winds began to whip around the trees. The smaller trees were being bent by the strong gale forcing itself into the forest. I stood up, but I fell back down, my legs were still in shock. However I just got right back up a little bit more slowly. I was about to leave when I turned to see Cheshire on the ground. _I can't just leave her here_ Without medical help she'll be too weak to fend for her own, especially in this storm, and even if she manages to get out of here alive, she'll surely get ill and collapse again.

I moved towards her slowly and picked her up and carried her in my arms, I prayed to God she wouldn't wake up until we were in a safe place.

God must have heard me because the whole time running through the rain, lightning,thunder, and dodging falling trees, the path illuminated only by the flashing lightning, she stayed unconscious. We eventually reached a small cave big enough for a rhino or bear to fit in but not much bigger. I set Cheshire down on a slab of rock as I pulled out bandages and other medical items out of my bag. I treated her scorched arms and legs, but i was too uncomfortable to treat the torso, so I decided to see if her face was burned. As I tried to pull of her mask, she awoke and tried to get up, only to fall back down.

"Don't move. You're in no position to move around." I told her. She didn't say anything back but just gave a slight sigh of pain.  
"Is your face ok?" I asked her.

For the first time ever, I heard her speak.  
"If you mean if it's not burned then yes, my face is 'ok'." she muttered trying to hide the pain in everything but her face.

"Well that's good. If it's alright with you, I don't want to fight each other until we're both fully healed. Deal?" She gave a slight nod of her head.  
"I already treated your hands, arms, feet, and legs but if there are anymore burned_areas_ here's the skin lotion, and painkillers" I said setting the bottles down next to her.

I ran out of the cave to quickly gather some "dry" wood and berries. Although most of the wood was damp and cold, I did manage to start a small fire. Cheshire winced as the spark lit up the branches. I ate some berries and my stocked food. I offered some to Cheshire but she refused. "C'mon It's good." I said to her.  
Then she said her second complete sentence I heard from her.

"I already said no! Just leave me alone!" she screamed at me.

The storm didn't light up, if anything it got worse. So I decided I was stuck here with my would be assassin until the Storm was over. Eventually, Cheshire started to breathe normally, almost like a light snore. Despite her bad burns, she was shivering from the cold. I grabbed my blanket from my bag and gently covered her in it. She stopped shaking and continued with her sleeping.

I slept on the cold cave floor that night.


	2. The Lioness and the Mouse

The storm did not lighten up over the night, if anything it got worse. From the cave, on a hill, I can see the lightning hammer the ground below us, winds whipping around uprooting small trees, some areas below us are entirely submerged in water.

I saw a small white object move it's way up towards us, seeking shelter from the storm, the animal ran up towards our cave and entered, paying no attention to me, the cat (The exact same cat I accidentally shot down from a tree) passed me, and curled up into a ball and slept next to Cheshire.

I took notice of all of Cheshire's weapons and outfit. She had two metal claws, which attached to her wrists, and from the shape of the claws she must use them as weapons as well as tools. That must be how she can climb trees so silently and quickly. I removed the claws when I was treating her burns, my fingers felt a little numb when I touched them however. She must have coated them in some kind of poison. In her Kimono sleeves she kept an arsenal of knives, both for fighting and for throwing. _Crap why didn't I use my knife back there?Waste of five dollars..._ Next to her were the hair sticks that almost stabbed me in the face when she whipped her hair across my face..._What kind of shampoo does she use that makes her hair that tough?_ I know I've seen those before I just don't know where... She didn't wear them last time we fought..

I remember the first time we fought, it was in a forest in the States. _MY TURF_ and I lost. This time I'm in Asia in her neck of the woods, I would have surely lost and had to call for help...What would BB say if that happened again? She'd kill me! If i was lucky!_And why does Cheshire always fight with ME? I mean she worked for the Brotherhood of Evil the first time we fought, but she didn't stay around for the final battle. So she wasn't that committed to the gang. But, she didn't have an excuse for this time... She just randomly attacked. WHY ME? There has to be some reason she keeps coming after me._

Cheshire started to stir, the cat stood up on all fours.  
"Errm" She cat meowed in response to Cheshire's voice."Erh, Li?" She called to the cat

The cat started purring and rubbed it's head and back on Cheshire. She then started speaking, in what I assume is Vietnamese, to the cat. They seemed to be words of adoration, at least from what I could tell.

"Well ain't that sweet?" I said. She finally took notice the two weren't alone.

"You!" She tried to get herself up but she rose to quickly and fell back down onto the blanket I placed on her the night before. She noticed the blanket and looked back at me.

"Why?" She asked  
"You looked cold last night." I replied  
"No, I mean why did you bring me with you? Why didn't you just leave me back there?" It was obvious English wasn't her first language. Although she didn't have a heavy accent, it was distinguishable, I actually found it kind of cute.

"Oh well, I couldn't let such a pretty face all alone in the jungle." I tried to sound smooth and suave, but it didn't work. She was completely unfazed.

"You've never even seen my face." She said nonchalantly. _Crap, way to be smooth Speedy_

"Well..." She grabbed the hair sticks lying by her side and began to do her hair, when it hit me. "Those things in your hair... There was a girl about your age in Xinhuan with those exact same needles, she was dipping them in some kind of green liquid, and when I was treating your burns, I noticed your claws were coated with a green tint. That girl in Xinhuan was you wasn't it?"

She placed her hands on her mask and removed it.(there must be some kind of special design for it to open)

"Guess there's no point in wearing this if you've already seen my face," She said. "but in return I ask for your name."

"It's Speedy." I said.

"What kind of name is that?" she asked "It sounds like a name for someone who can run fast."  
"Well I can run pretty fast." I said in my defense.  
"I meant someone like 'Flash' or his sidekick"  
"Well what about you? You're named after a cat, any specific reson?"  
"Well the first book I learned to read in English was 'Alice in Wonderland' and I liked the Cheshire Cat."  
"Not much better than 'Speedy'" I said.  
"I think 'Red Arrow' is a much more fitting name." I cracked a smile in what seemed like months.  
"Red Arrow, I kinda like that." I really did like it, maybe I'll change my name to that sometime...

Li fell asleep on Cheshire's lap, and was purring as it dreamed. For some reason all my anger and confusion towards Cheshire was gone.

"Hey do you have anymore of that lotion or cream or whatever it was?" She asked looking at her left arm.

"Uh, sure." I dug through my bag and found the container and tossed it towards her.

"Thank you, what is this stuff anyway?" She said as she applied it onto her arms.

"I honestly don't know. It's something Raven, you know Raven right?"  
"Isn't she the creepy girl in the hood?"  
"Uh yeah, that's her. She made that stuff and said it had special healing properties so only use it in an emergency."  
"And you used it on me?" I could swear she lightly blushing.  
"Well you I'd feel guilty if I let you die, so I had to do something." I responded.  
"Oh.. well thank you again." She said.

"Why did you even attack me earlier?" I finally asked her.  
"Well, there's been a lot of disappearances recently around this area, and you looked suspicious." She said a little embarrassed.  
"Really that's the whole reason I'm here. We heard that people are disappearing without a trace, and I'm here to investigate why."  
"Well I feel, how do you say, 'Stupid'" She said.

"So you're not a villain?" I asked  
"Depends on what you mean by 'villain', I'm a bounty hunter, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm evil."

"Is that why came for me like a year ago?" I asked.

"Yes and no. When I was little, I was sold into slavery to a cruel old man, and I was traded again and again to different owners, some more humane than others but slave owners never the less. From each owner though I learned new things; like how to build and repair my claws, all types of poisons, how to wield a knife, a series of martial arts like; Karate,Kung fu, Jujutsu, Judo, Taekwondo, Lam Son, Et Cetera. But then a woman from France came to visit my current master and me. Her name was Madame Rouge and she said she would pay for my freedom if I managed to capture a fugitive from France. She did keep her end of the deal, she bought me from my previous owner and set me free. She even offered me a job with her in the 'Brotherhood of Evil', but I declined. She lied to me though, you weren't a fugitive from France were you?"

"No I'm not, and never was." I said.  
"Yeah I'm sorry for what I did. If I knew what they would do to you and who you really were..."

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine and they got what they deserved." I assured her.

There was an awkward silence for the next few minutes before I decided to speak again.

"So do you always want to be a bounty hunter?" I asked her

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, is this what you plan on doing for the next few years?" I restated.  
She took a long pause before she answered with

"I don't know, I mean there's nothing else I can really do." She said as if she just now thought of what she wants to do with her life.

"You could join the Teen Titans," I offered.

"Do you think they'll accept me?" She asked

"Are you kidding? There's not many people who can do fight with a knife like you can." I reassured her.

"But it's not like I even have any powers or abilities."

"Well neither does Robin, or myself, but you're pretty acrobatic, and you're pretty good at sneaking and stealth in general. You seem to be an expert in paralyzing poisons, and you can fight with just three thin blades on your 'll be a huge asset to the team." I encouraged her.

She thought over the words I just said, she seemed genuinely intrigued in the offer. I felt butterflies in my stomach as she turned to me with her reply

"Sure, I'll join if the Teen Titans are willing to accept me."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN'T REACH HIM?" yelled Bumblebee as she flew over a city.

"I mean just that, when I try to contact his communicator it doesn't answer," Aqualad's voice buzzed from the device in Bumblebee's hand.

"DANG IT SPEEDY! If he doesn't die out there I'll kill him myself." BB replied back. "How big is this storm again?"

"The underwater life say it reaches from Vietnam to Hong Kong, Exactly where Speedy is supposed to be" Aqualad sounded a little frantically.

"Dang it I can't reach him either, I'll see if Mas and Menos can get a hold of him." BB pushed a button on the communicator and the small screen on the communicator split into two; Aqualad on one half of the screen and twins on the other.

"Hey, Que paso?" Mas answered.

"Mas, Menos, see if you can contact Speedy on your communicator." BB ordered.

Mas pushed a button but no response happened.

"No contesta." They replied back to BB

"Well that's just great! He probably turned it off the idiot." BB's fury was easily seen from the citizens several yards below her.

"Should we check if he's ok?" Aqualad asked from a beach close enough to see the storm but at a safe distance.

"If he doesn't respond back within a day, I want Mas&Menos to run to where Speedy's communicator was last active. Until then just keep an eye out." With That BB shut off the connection with Aqualad and the twins and continued to survey from the sky_Speedy, you better not slip up again._

The storm didn't seem to change as time went by, so we spent most of the time just talking. We asked each other both generic and personal questions; Cheshire's full name is Jade Nguyen, her mom was a Vietnamese local, and her dad was a tourist from France.

She also seems to be fascinated with American culture. She found my iPod one day and she took time to listen to every single song I had on there. ( I really can't blame her, there's nothing to do, and I had a good taste in music)

When her burns healed, she taught me how to wield a knife effectively, she taught me a few martial art moves she learned, and about the different poisons one can find in any forest or river. In return I showed her how to use a bow, American music, and we shared several stories of our adventures. She told me how she was chased by packs of wolves, and I shared stories on how we stopped Brother Blood's plans for an 'invincible' army.

On the first night of our isolation we were pretty much at each other's throats, not trusting the other. By the fifth we were sleeping side by side,near the fire, under the same blanket. This was the happiest I've been in months.


End file.
